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The calendar flipped to September, meaning we're nearing the end of our fantasy baseball marathon. Playoffs are beginning in earnest, and every roster decision feels 10x more important than it did even a month ago.
If you need help at 2B or SS in your push for a championship, then you came to the right place. We've got plenty of hot new options as MLB rosters expanded and teams are willing to call up top prospects.
As a reminder, we'll be looking at pickups for shallow leagues (30-49% rostered) and deeper formats (10-29%), as well as highlighting players in the single digits who deserve a spot on your watch list at the very least. These are your second base and shortstop fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 22 – September 5th through September 11th.
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Gunnar Henderson, SS, Baltimore Orioles (48% rostered)
The exciting Baltimore Orioles added more firepower to its surprising push towards a postseason birth. Top-prospect Gunnar Henderson was called up and made an immediate impact by launching his first MLB homer in his Big League debut. If you haven't seen the video, take a look, it was a bomb.
What a shot. In addition to blasting that ball well over 400 feet, how about the subtle nudge of the helmet off of his head so his flowing locks could be on full display for his trot around the bases? This kid has star power and is the top priority to add off of waivers.
Throw in a stolen base in his next game, and Henderson already flashed five-category upside in his first week in the Majors. His roster rate is rising quickly, however, so go add him now.
Luis Rengifo, 2B/SS/3B/OF, Los Angeles Angels (36% rostered)
Unlike Henderson, Rengifo hasn't seen much fanfare, but the versatile 25-year-old just continues to produce for the Angels and fantasy managers with the foresight to add him a month ago.
Since the Angels waived the white flag at the Trade Deadline, Rengifo has batted either third or fourth in every game and has 28 runs-plus-RBI in 29 games in that span. Rengifo has a sub-20 percent strikeout rate and is in a prime position to put up great numbers for fantasy batting behind Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. This is an elite contact hitter who has more rest-of-season fantasy value than his roster rate indicates.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Bryson Stott, 2B/SS, Philadelphia Phillies (14% rostered)
Bryson Stott has been on fire for well over a month, but his roster rate is actually lower than it was when he was the cover boy for this column last week. Maybe it's the .225 batting average, but as with any rate stat, that number is still being dragged down by an abysmal April that saw Stott get sent back down to Triple-A.
Stott is batting over .300 since the start of August and his Second Half OPS is a healthy .752. Stott has prospect pedigree and was a .300-plus hitter in both Double-A and Triple-A. The one knock on Stott is a lack of power, so he's not a must-add in all leagues, but those that need a middle infielder or a hot bat for the playoffs should take a closer look at Stott.
Jose Iglesias, 2B/SS, Colorado Rockies (23% rostered)
If you need help in batting average, there might not be a better addition than Jose Iglesias. No, he won't produce much else, but the veteran shortstop is batting .302 on the season and is about to play a full week of games in Coors Field.
Iglesias is an elite contact hitter as he's got a career-best 92.2% contact rate on pitches in the strike zone. Toss in a strikeout rate under 10 percent and you've got a sleeper hitter for Week 22 of the fantasy baseball season.
Waiver Wire Watch List
Oswald Peraza, SS, New York Yankees (7% rostered)
The Yankees are in a free fall and used the expanded rosters to call up one of their top prospects, shortstop Oswald Peraza. Peraza authored a monster season in Triple-A as he blasted 18 homers and stole 33 bases across 99 games while posting a .778 OPS.
The issue for Peraza could be playing time. He came off the bench in his first Big League game on Friday, before making his first start batting eighth on Saturday. If he hits, however, Peraza should stay in the lineup as the Yankees have gotten next to nothing from Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Peraza could be an asset in fantasy if he seizes the opportunity presented to him.
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